Apple Braised Chicken Breast

A friend on Facebook wrote she was making this for dinner...and in honor of having a billion apples I decided to try it! The original recipe did call for turkey thighs and I used bone in chicken breast, if I liked dark meat, I would probably go with that next time!

And speaking of facebook...did you know you can now find me there? check it out and become a fan...er like me!

Apple Braised Chicken Breast-shared from Food&Wine
1 tbsp olive oil
2 turkey thighs(I did use 4 chicken breast)
salt and pepper
2 large shallots, thinly sliced OR 1 small onion and 2 tsp minced garlic
4 apples, peeled, quartered, cored
2 cups apple cidek
2 cups of broth
2 tsp cider vinegar(optional)

Preheat oven to 350. In an oven proof pot, heat oil.Season both sides of the meat. Add in chicken/turkey skin side down into pot. Cook for about 8 mins until skin is golden and crisp. Remove meat from pan. Add in shallots or garlic/onion. Cook for about 5 mins or until tender.

Add in apples, meat, broth, and cider. Bring to a boil, cover and place in oven for 1.5 hours. Uncover and cook for 30 more minutes.

Remove meat from pan. Skim fat and add in vinegar. Slice meat and serve with apples and pan sauce.

**You can cook the apples for a bit before adding in the broth. I did not as I didn't want mush apples and they cooked fine. I think by using the breast it did dry out, I would highly recommend using a dark piece of meat. It did smell amazing!! K really enjoyed it and the flavors were great, just the meat seemed a bit dry to me. Although my friend did like it and she used the dark meat. The recipe does say it will taste better the next day, and it did! I used the leftover sauce/apples to make an apple cheddar soup, which will be posted soon! This can easily be finished off in the slow cooker!

Spiced Apple Squash Soup

My mom recently had some dental sugery done and I wanted to make her some food that didn't require much chewing!  I was struggling a bit because I knew some of it would probably have to be frozen and what I was coming up with I wasn't sure it would freeze well. I also have an over abudance of apples right now and in my email popped up pillsbury's recipe news letter. This was in it and I deemed it perfect...to use up some apples and my mom actually likes butternut squash(I do not...). I will try it.

Spiced Apple Squash Soup-shared from Pillsbury
8 cups cubed, peeled, butternut squash(about 3 lbs)
2 large apples, chopped,peeled(about 3 cups)
1 onion diced
1 cup apple juice or cider
32 oz veggie or chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup heavy/whipping cream

Place all ingredients into slow cooker except cream and parlsey. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Blend soup with immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender. Return to slow cooker and stir in cream.

*I of course didn't read the entire recipe to see that it was cooked in the slow cooker...I took it upon myself to make it a bit harder and roasted the apples and squash. Then I sauted the onion until soft and blended it together.

**I did actually try this and it was actually pretty good! I have about 8 cups in the freezer for my mom, I did not put in any cream. I really didn't think it needed it and figured it might thaw better without it! I saved a bowl for K, so he can try it as well. You can't really taste the butternut which is probably why I actually liked it! A wanted to try it and I told him it was apple soup because I knew if I said squash he wouldn't try it. He wasn't a fan...but that's ok!

Menu Plan...Tuesday!

Sorry its late! Never got online in time to post it and I went to do it last night and our internet was in and out...again!

I made a few extra meals this week to bring to my mom while she is recovering from some dental work. Hopefully she likes them!

Breakfast/Baking:
-Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Muffins
-Cinnamon Chip Bread
-Cinnamon Chip French Toast(which will be served for dinner)

Dinner:
-Apple Butternut Squash Soup(1/2 to my mom)
-Apple Cheddar Soup (with Chicken) (also half to my mom)
-Broccoli Cheddar Soup
-Apple Braised Chicken, with corn and mashed potatoes
-Pineapple Salsa Chicken Tacos
-Tomato Bisque(also for mom)
-Roasted 2 chickens for broth
-Double batch of Cream of Mushroom Soup for a future freezer cooking day

I'm thinking there is something else, but I can't remember!

Tasty Tuesday-9/28

Tomato Bisque with Tortellini-Andrea the Kitchen Witch
Roasted Tomato and Veggie Soup-For the Love of cooking
Simple Sesame Chicken Noodle Bowl-Diary of  Recipe Addict
Apple Crostada-Baking and Creating with Avril
Creamy Chicken and Habenero Chowder-Let's Dish
Mint Dark Chocolate Squares-Finding Joy in my Kitchen
Oatmeal, Coconut, Chocolate Chip, Pecan Cookies-Cottage Sisters
Apple Bread-food.com
Raspberry Swirl Blondies-Let's Dish
Sweet Potato Pancakes-Lick the Bowl Good

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Rolls

I always love trying out new roll/bread recipes! As long as I remember to use them immediately or to freeze them! I always have every intention of doing it, just sometimes I find some nice mold growing...and boy do I hate to throw food out!

There were 2 recipes for this found on The Taste Of Home website...one for white rolls and one for whole wheat. I opted not to do the whole wheat version because it needed self rising flour and was being lazy and not looking up on how to make my own. So I used the white version with whole wheat flour and wouldn't you know, its probably the same thing, as I'm pretty sure self-rising flour has the same leavening in it. So I'm not really sure why they needed basically the same recipe in twice.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Rolls-shared from Taste Of Home
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups warm buttermilk(110-115 degrees)
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 cups flour(I used 3 cups whole wheat, 1-11/2 of ap)

In a large bowl dissolve yeast in water. Beat in the buttermilk, oil, sugar,salt, baking soda, and 2 cups of flour until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour until a soft dough forms.

Knead in stand mixer for 2-3 mins until smooth and elastic or by hand for 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down. Divide into 18 pieces and roll into balls. *Mine were not very ball shapish...it was a soft dough and they kinda flattened a bit before they rose! Place on greased cookie sheet.(I did some on the cookie sheet and some in an 8 inch round cake pan). Cover and let rise for 30 mins until doubled.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 mins or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

**These were quite tasty! They are light and fluffy and they may just become my new go to recipe for hamburger/hot dog rolls. They had a harder outside but fluffy inside. The ones in cake pan probably could have cooked a bit longer but the tops were definitely done! The bottoms seemed a bit doughy, but were fine. Half did make it into the freezer and the boys loved them!

Apple Honey Tea

I was peeling some apples today to use in a soup, I remember seeing a recipe to make some tea using the peels. I always like to use as much of a product as I can and this was an easy way to use those peels before they are tossed! It is so pretty!

Apple Honey Tea-shared from Finding Joy in My Kitchen
3-4 cups water
peels from 6 apples
dsah of cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey

Place all ingredients except honey in pan. Heat to boiling, allow to boil for 10-15 mins until colorful and appley.(Mine isn't as dark as hers though.) Remove peels, add in honey. Stir and taste...add more honey if you would like.

**This does make your house smell AMAZING!! YUM

Cheesy Spinach Lasagna Soup

Seen as today is the first day of Fall...I had planned a soup! Of course New England weather is at it again and its in the 80's, but we are still having soup!(This will post after the first day of fall!) This is another lasagna soup recipe...although I'm not sure that I ever shared my first version of it! It is slightly adapted as I don't have the mozzerella cheese, but I'm sure it will still be delicious!

Cheesey Spinach Lasagna Soup-adapted from What a Crock
1 lb itlalian sausage
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 10 oz box frozen spinach, thawed, drained
1 qt chicken broth
1 pkg frozen cheese tortellini or 1 cup mini pasta
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
8 oz mozzerella, diced(optional)

Brown and crumble sausage. Remove from pan and drain. Leave some oil from sausage in the pan and saute onion and garlic. Add in tomatoes, tomato sauce, and broth. Stir in seasonings. Bring to a boil. Add in pasta if using it and cook until al dente. OR cook tortellini separately and add to the soup.

Mix in spinach and cheese if using. Top with parmesan cheese.

**This was really good! I know the other lasagna soup I have was more of a tomato base where this did have some tomato in it that wasn't all that it was! Perfect for a fall day...or summer day!

Creamy Apple Quesadilla

We went apple picking over the weekend..the result is I now have 23 lbs of apples to use for something! I received an email from Pillsbury and found a couple of tasty recipes I can't wait to try. This was one of them that I couldn't wait to try!*It doesn't seem to photograph well...but its still very tasty!

Creamy Apple Quesadilla-shared from Pillsbury
1/2 apple, sliced thin
4 oz low fat cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 flour tortillas
butter or spray oil
cinnamon and sugar for topping(optional)

Mix together cream cheese, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Spread some onto each tortilla. Place apple slices on top, cover with other tortilla. Spray with oil/butter and place in pan, cook until brown. Flip and allow to brown on the other side. Remove from pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, cut into quarters.

**This was a really quick and easy snack to make. We did serve ours with dinner. It was tasty too!

Choclate Chip Crunch Cookies

I have a very large box of corn flakes...I bought them for something and then apparently forgot what for because they have yet to be opened and I KNOW I bought them a few months ago! A wanted to bring a snack to preschool and he asked for cookies. I saw this recipe and thought it sounded different.

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies-adapted from Taste and Tell
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup white sugar(and it was actually 2/3 cup)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups crushed cornflakes
1-2 cups chocolate chips

Mix together sugars and butter. Add in eggs, soda, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Combine flour into sugar mix. Fold cornflakes and chocolate chips into batter.*This is a very thick/sticky batter.

Scoop batter onto cookie sheet. Press dough down using a fork in a criss cross pattern in the center, like you would for peanut butter cookies.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 8-10 mins.

**The batter was very sweet, so I was glad I cut the sugar back. The original recipe said to cook for 10 mins, and they do spread a lot! These are a thin crispy, crunchy, cookie. The next few I only cooked for 8 mins and these were softer, chewier in the middle with crispy edges. So you may want to watch how long you cook them. I did still find them sweet, but its probably just me!

Maple Apple Pork Roast

It's that time of year again in New England...Apple picking time!! We are headed out this weekend to go with some friends of ours, but I wanted to use up some apples I already had in the fridge. I saw this recipe and had to try it! It sounded perfect for a fall day! It was easy too!

Now knowing my crock pot the way I do I knew if I put in the apples at the beginning I'd get mush...so I held off a couple of hours before I added in the carrots and apples. This crock pot tends to cook my food REALLY fast even on low and the other one just got recalled, so I worked with what I had.

Maple Apple Pork Roast-shared from Finding Joy in My Kitchen
2-4 lb pork roast
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 lb bag baby carrots
3-4 apples, sliced
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

Place roast in crock pot. Mix together juice and syrup, pour over roast. Combine together spices and sprinkle over roast. Set on low for 6 hours.

*Snowhite originally put in the carrots first and then the apples, topped with the pork. I put in the pork, waited about 2-3 hours then pulled the roast out, put in the carrots and apples and put the pork back on top for the remainder of the time.

**This smelled very good while it cooked! The meat was juicy and tender and pretty flavorful. Next time I will rotate the meat half way through as the bottom half you could really taste the apple/syrup, but the top half not so much ,but it got lots of flavor from the seasoning. The apples like I suspected, turned to mush...ick. But the carrots were perfectly cooked for us, and very sweet and tasty from the juice mix. The apples could have gone to mush b/c of the kind I used, but it was all still tasty! Q loved the carrots!

Tasty Tuesday-9/21

Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs-What Megan's Making
Cheesey Chimichaungas-Debbi Does Dinner...Healthy
Apple Cookies with Caramel-Cooking During Stolen Moments
Apple Honey Tea-FInding Joy In My Kitchen
Moroccan Chicken and Lentils-Cooking During Stolen Moments
Pecan Pie Cupcakes-Lick the Bowl Good
Chicken and Dumplings-Lick the Bowl Good
Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins-Lick the bowl good
Cinnamon Sugar Coffee Cake Muffins-ltbg
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole-sweet and savory
THai Pork Chops-Jenn's Food Journey
Cheddar Coins-Good(cheap)eats
Chocolate Fudge Drops-The Sweets Life
Apple Braised Chicken-Food & Wine
Sopa Aguada de Fideo-La Cocina de Leslie




Apple Pie Play doh(not edible)-Bubbles, Balloons, and Blessings

Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

I am always on the lookout for new and different ways to make something simple, like banana bread. Someday I will find THE PERFECT recipe, but I have yet to find it. This one involves chocolate so I had to give it a try!

Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread-adapted from
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas(3-4 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups whole or ap flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts(optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans.

Mix together butter and sugar. Stir in eggs until mixed well.  Add in bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla, beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.(Stir in nuts)

Place chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and slowly heat them up to melting. *I started at 30 seconds, stir, another 30 seconds and stir. They tend to keep their shape for a while, so try not to burn them! Mix about 1 cup of prepared batter into the chocolate until combined.

Layer 1/2 of plain batter into each loaf pan. Top with half of the chocolate batter followed by another layer of plain. Take a knife and lightly swirl the batters together, if you swirl too much you will just end up with chocolate banana bread!

Bake for 40-60 mins or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. *The orginally recipes states to cook for 1-1 1/4 hours, but in my pans it took about 40 mins. So you will want to keep an eye on them!

**This bread was so DELICIOUS!! YUM! It was a bit thinner but that was because it was split into 2 pans. But it wasn't dense, but fluffy and moist. K's parents love it as well.

Menu Plan Monday

Well it looks like Amy and I are planning another freezer cooking day so that means I need to clean out my freezer again! Not that there is too much in there, but not enough to get any big meals in there. So that will be happening over the next couple of weeks!

Anyone have any ideas on what to do with raviol, other than the normal red sauce?

You may also see apples come up a lot in the menu as we went apple picking with friends over the weekend! I love fall in New England! I also picked up two sugar pumpkins I hope to get baked off for some yummy pumpkin treats!

Breakfast/Baking:
-Maple Oat Bread
-French toast with maple oat bread...maybe?




Dinner:
-Cheesy Spinach Lasagna Soup with buttermilk rolls
-Leftover Mexican Couscous Soup
-Mac and Cheese
-Pineapple Salsa Chicken Tacos

The Best Homemade Meatballs

This recipe came from the new Family Fun magazine...it wasn't so much the meatball recipe that caught my attention but the meatball minestrone soup that was under this one. Well if I wanted to make the soup I needed to make the meatballs first. I am not a meatball making person...honestly I sometimes just don't have the patience to sit and roll them all so they aren't made here very often. I used to buy the ones at the store that we really liked, but I'm pretty sure there are things in there that I don't want to know about. This recipe made about 80 meatballs and I used almost 3 lbs of meatloaf/meatball mix that included: beef, pork, and veal.

The Best Homemade Meatballs-shared from Family Fun magazine
3 lbs ground meat(sug. turkey, beef, and pork)
1 10 oz pkg frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained well(omitted I had none!)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese(omitted, as I ran out!)
3 large eggs, beaten
2 tbsp italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup breadcrumbs or panko

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl combine all ingredients throughly but do not over mix. Pinch off a tsp at a time...or I acutally use my small cookie scoop to get the same amount and then I roll them. Place on rimmed cooked sheet. Bake for 20-25 mins until they are browned and cooked through. **Mine only took about 15 mins because they were smaller.

**Usually when I make meatballs they seem dry and unflavorful...hence another reason I don't make them very often. I picked up the meatloaf mix at Bj's(which is a bulk food store) so I decided to make it all into meatballs and freeze them. These were awesome, tasty, and moist! They were even better the next day! My brother in law and sister in law loved them as well. We used them in meatball grinders(sub,s hoagies, or sandwiches!)

Maple Chocolate Chip Muffins

I needed a muffin recipe...I remember I had a couple that involved maple so I looked them up seen as I had just replenished my maple syrup. I used a combination of 2 recipes one from Diary of a Recipe Addict and Cutting Coupons In KC. I found the recipes to be fairly similar(one uses sour cream, the other buttermilk) but I went with the sour cream version as I needed to use it up! I also used a tad less syrup and added chocolate chips. I also did not glaze them...

Maple Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix together dry ingredients. Add in wet ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in chocolate chips. Place batter into greased mini-muffin pan and cook at 375 degrees for about 12 mins.

**I did double the recipe and used half butter/half applesauce. They were light and moist, but the maple was not a prominent flavor(for a double batch I used 3/4 of syrup). Q seemed to really like the ch. chips as he dug them OUT of the muffin! The ginger also was not a prominent flavor.

Pineapple Beef Stir Fry

K isn't too much of a fan of stir fry...I LOVE it! Mostly because its an easy way to get lots of veggies(hence why he isn't a fan of it) and can use up leftovers! I got a great deal on some steaks at the store yesterday and this was on my menu so I went with it.

Pineapple Beef Stir Fry-shared from Taste of Home
1 lb steak, sliced thin
20 oz can of pineapple
1 onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 tsp grated ginger
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1 jalepeno, seeds removed, diced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
2 tbsp canola oil
hot cooked rice

Mix together 3/4 of a cup of pineapple juice(from can), soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Pour 1/4 cup over beef, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Place oil in pan and allow to heat up. Stir fry beef until cooked through. Remove from heat and keep warm.*My beef let off a lot of juice, so I removed that as well and kept it aside. Stir fry onions and peppers. Mix together cornstarch and reserved sauce. When just about done add in the rest of the sauce and pineapple. Bring to a boil and let thicken. Add in beef and allow to warm through.

Serve over hot rice. I decided to use some lo mein noodles I had in place of the rice.

**I felt something was missing in this recipe, but it was very tasty. I loved using the lo-mein noodles as well. K liked it and the boys just liked the noodles of course!

Chocolate Graham Crackers

I tried a regular graham cracker recipe once...and they were more like a soft cookie vs. a cracker. But then I stumbled upon this recipe for chocolate ones. It had a different method of cooking so I gave it a try! To make just a honey graham cracker, leave out the cocoa powder.

Chocolate Graham Crackers-Heavenly Homemakers
2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 tbsp honey
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla(which I did forget!)
1 stick of butter melted

Mix together flour, sugar, powder, soda, salt, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Add in water, vanilla, honey, and butter. Still until well combined. Dough will be stiff.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on paper. Place another piece of parchement paper on top and roll out.*Don't try to skip the second piece, I did and it clearly did not work. The dough is very stick and kept sticking to my rolling pin. Once rolled out, cut into 2 inch squares, I used my pizza cutter.

Place in 350 degree oven for 18 mins. Once cooked, shut oven off, but leave crackers inside to crisp up for 30 mins to 1 hr. Remove from the oven and break along lines.

**I wasn't sure how I felt about the honey/chocolate together as I tasted the dough and it seemed off, but once cooked and cooled you didn't even taste the honey! These were crispy just like a store bought cracker and mighty tasty! YUM! Now I'll never have to buy the store bought again! They were fairly easy to make too!

Curried Beef and Dumplings

I found this in the Taste of Home Recipe Collection...I can't remember if it was 2009 or 2010 but I thought it sounded different!

Curried Beef and Dumplings-shared from Taste of Home
1 3 lb rump roast
6 carrots cut into chunks, or baby carrots
1 onion sliced
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Dumplings:
1 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cold butter
3/4 cup milk

1 cup water(may need more)

Brown meat in pan, place in crock pot. Mix together tomaotes, curry, sauce, sugar, and salt. Pour over meat, add in onions and carrots. Cook on low for 6-8 hours until meat is tender.

Pour juice into pan, add in hot water and bring to a boil.

Mix together flour, salt, baking powder. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk until just moistened. Drop dumplings into simmering liquid, cover, and steam for 15 mins. Remove dumplings for sauce and serve with meat and carrots.

**So far this smells a lot like beef stew....it was just ok the first night we had it. I found it needed gravy as the meat was a bit dry. I did add another cup of water to the juices for the dumplings as I just didn't have enough to cook them in. I then took that thickened "gravy" and dumped it over the leftover meat. It was so much better the next day! It was a nice and different take on pot roast and I LOVE curry! The dumplings were delicious too!

Tasty Tuesday-9/14

Taco Twist Bake-Debbi does dinner... healthy
Sweet Chicken Curry-My Wooden Spoon
German Chocolate Upside Down Cake-The Newlyweds
Zucchini Cookies-Finding Joy in my Kitchen
Maple Apple Pork Roast-Finding Joy In my Kitchen
Grilled Chicken Souvlaki Gyros-Tammy's Recipes
Italian Chicken Fried Rice-Cooking During Stolen Moments
Stuffed Pizza Rolls-Diary of Recipe Addict
Lentil Minestrone-Meet me in the Kitchen

Menu Plan Monday

Nothing fancy going on this week...other than it feeling like FALL!

Breakfast:
-Egg McMuffins(made over the weekend and froze)
-Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread
-Maple Oat Bread...but I'm think we are on bread overload so this may change!
-Laura's Maple Cakes or Ch. Chip Pancake muffins

Dinner:
-I have some bbq chicken left over, so maybe some bbq chicken wraps, pizza, or something
-Mac and Cheese
-Pineapple Beef Stir Fry
-Chicken Pot Pie(leftover)
-Maple Apple Pork Roast, Mashed potatoes, mixed veggies

Of course anything is up for a change...

Apple Brown Betty Muffins

Tiffany over at Eat at Home posted this recipe a few days ago. I added it to my list because I am ALWAYS looking for new muffin recipes and seen as it is apple picking time, what is better than an apple muffin? I had some apples that needed to be used up so I made them yesterday...when I was FREEZING! Yes it is definitely feeling fall like here!

Apple Brown Betty Muffins-adapted from Eat at Home
2 cups flour(half whole wheat/half ap)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 stick butter(1/4 cup)
1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup finely chopped apple(I chopped 2-3 apples)

Stir together dry ingredients. Beat the butter, applesauce, and sugar together until combined.(The butter will look chunky, I just beat it until they were small pieces). Fold dry ingredients into wet, just until combined. Fold in apples.

Place in greased muffin tin. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 mins. *Recipes says it makes 12 but I got 15 or 16 muffins

**These are some of the best muffins I've made in a while! They are moist and just the right amount of sweet. I didn't want to alter the butter or sugar at first, but then I decided too. I can only imagine what they would taste like with ALL the butter and sugar in them. So I made them a touch healthier...the boys haven't' seem to eat them yet, but that's fine I'll eat them all!

Glenn's Famous Brownies

I have been looking for a really good brownie recipe...I haven't found it yet, but this MAY be it! According to the recipe its more about the process than the ingredients. This is the original name as they are that good so I'll just keep it! I didn't change anything about the recipe, normally I might sub half applesauce for the butter, but I find that changes the texture of the brownie.  I like a chewy, gooey brownie and it says it should deliver! I take the back I did use whole wheat flour...and the batter was delicious!

Glenn's Famous Brownies-adapted from Let's Dish
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together salt, flour, and cocoa powder, set aside. Melt butter in a medium sized sauce pan, remove from heat. Whisk in sugar and vanilla.  Quickly whisk in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add butter mix to flour mix until well incorporated. Pour into greased pan 8x8 pan and cook at 350 degrees for 25-35 mins.

**I think I just found my new FAVORITE brownie recipe! They really did live up to the name! YUM! Even the batter was tasty and it was chewy and gooey, everything a brownie should be! And yes they are made in a pie plate because I actually DON"T own a 8x8 or 9x9 inch square pan!

Patty Melts

I've never actually HAD a patty melt, but 2 blogs in the same week posted them so I went along with it! They were fairly easy to make, just next time I will have to try a different bread, the homemade bread I made didn't do well with them...it was too thick and the taste was off.

**Sorry for the lack of posts...internet has not been friendly to us lately!

Patty Melts-shared from Newlyweds
1 lb ground meat(I used turkey)
1 onion (1/2 shredded, 1/2 sliced)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 dashes of Worcestershire
8 slices of bread
8 slices of cheese
butter

Mix together meat, egg, onion, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Form into 4-6 thin patties. Cook on griddle until cooked through. Take off and keep warm. Place remaining onion on griddle and dash with Worcestershire sauce. Cook until softened. Remove.

Butter bread. Place on griddle with butter side down, add one slice of cheese, burger, onion, another slice of cheese and another piece of bread butter side up. Cook until cheese is melted, flip and continue cooking until side is browned. Cut in half and enjoy!

**Other than the bread not being that great, we did really like them. I'm sure they would taste even better if they were made with beef than turkey, but its what I had so that's what I did. Next time we will used different bread and try it with beef! It was a pretty quick and simple dinner!

Tex Mex Chicken and Dumplings

I stumbled upon this recipe a few weeks ago when I discovered a new blog! I thought it sounded different and not your typical chicken and dumplings!

Tex Mex Chicken and Dumplings-shared from Let's Dish
8 cups chicken broth
chicken from one whole chicken(I actually only used about 3 cups), shredded
juice of 1 lime
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of whole roasted green chilis(6 oz can)
2 cloves of garlic, minced(which I forgot)
1/2 cup cream
cayene, salt, and pepper to taste

Dumplings:
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp melted butter

Place tomatoes, green chilis, and garlic in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add to chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add in chicken and lime juice. Stir until heated through. Season with spices and add in cream. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.

Mix together dumpling ingredients. Drop by rounded tbsp into broth. Do NOT stir. Cover and let steam for 20 mins.

**I didn't take a picture of it...because it was NOT a pretty site. My dumpling batter was very runny and I wasn't sure why at first, but then I remembered I used 2 JUMBO eggs, next time I'll add in more flour or only 1 egg or use just large eggs!  I only got a couple that actually turned into dumplings the rest were kinda beady. If you look at the original recipe she has a picture and mine looked the same! I really did like the flavor of this dish, but I think it needed more than just chicken, broth, and dumplings. So perhaps next time I'll add in some corn or leave the tomatoes diced.

Smore Bars

I got this recipe off a message board I used to frequent a lot. I believe her name was Jen and I love how easy the recipe is to make and how tasty they are!

Smore Bars-shared from Jen F
1 cup flour(I used whole wheat)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups mini marshmellows
1 cup chocolate chips, divided

Blend together the first 7 ingredients until crumbly. Press into a 9x9 inch pan.(I actually use a 9x13). Sprinkle with half a cup of chocolate chips and then the marshmallows. Bake at 350 for 20 mins or until marshmallows turn golden brown. Melt a half a cup of chocolate chips and drizzle over bars.

**I forgot to take a picture of the completed bars and also didn't drizzle the chocolate on top. I just got lazy and put the whole cup in the middle of the bars!

Menu Plan Monday on Tuesday

Sorry this is late...we were away for the weekend!

Baking/Breakfast:
- apparently I have NOTHING planned yet!

Dinner:
-Chicken Pot pie
-Pineapple Salsa Chicken Tacos
-Curried Beef and Dumplings...or pot roast
-Tortellini with Chive Parmesan Sauce

Homemade McGriddles

While I have never actually had one of these at McDonald's I saw the idea on a recent blog I was reading. I was looking for something new to make so we have a quick breakfast to eat while running out the door. It's usually me who has this problem, K doesn't usually do breakfast, but these are good to have on hand for his lunches too! These do take a little time to assemble but they are by no means hard, just takes a few steps!

Homemade McGriddles-shared from Hoosier Homemade
your favorite plain pancake recipe
sausage patties or bacon(cooked)
1 egg/mcgriddle
1 slice of cheese/mcgriddle
pure maple syrup

Mix up pancake batter and spread batter out int silver dollars. Drizzle with maple syrup. Cook until bubbles form on top and flip. Cool.

Take one egg, and scramble in bowl. Pour onto hot griddle, and try to keep it from spreading out.(I found by using the hot griddle it got it to cook faster so it stopped the spreading). Continue until all eggs are done.

To assemble: take 2 pancakes of the same size. Lay down the egg, cheese, and bacon or sausage. Place 2nd pancake on top. Wrap in paper towel and then in foil.(If you are freezing)

**I used brown and serve breakfast sausage patties and just kept them frozen as mine were just going into the freezer. Next time I think I will put the maple syrup right into the pancake batter instead of the sugar. This was a thick batter, but I did not thin it. They look delicious! Clearly I need to work on my pancake size!

Pumpkin Pancakes

I had some leftover pumpkin that I wanted to make into some pancakes or muffins. Well the heat is back so I didn't' want to heat the house up, so pancakes won!

Pumpkin Pancakes-adapted from Allrecipes.com
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp vinegar

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add in remaining ingredients until just combined. *This is a very thick batter. Spread batter onto hot griddle. Spread out with spoon if needed. Flip when bubbles form and edges look cooked.

**These were delicious, fluffy pancakes! YUM!! And I may or may not have had extra filling leftover from the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies and topped these with that instead of syrup! For a special treat or to WOW guests I would go that route for sure!

Smore Cookies

Thanks to the recent posts of it being National Smore day a couple weeks ago...I've been wanting to make these! My cookies also came out a bit flat like the original recipe poster stated

Smore Cookies-shared from What Megan's Making
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 dash cinnamon
2 sticks of butter, softened
3/4 cup each brown and white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups choc. chips
mini marshmellows

Cream together butter, vanilla, and sugars. In another bowl mix together dry ingredients. Add in each egg one at a time to the butter mix until well mix. Slowly add in dry ingredients until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake for 6 mins on 375. Take cookie sheet out and press 3-4 marshmallows into the top of the cookie. Place back in the oven for an additional minute.

**I did not put the extra chocolate on the top of the cookies. We thought these were VERY sweet and I was glad we didn't put the extra chocolate in. They were quite tasty...and also my cookies came out flat. But still tasty!

Rice Pilaf...Take 2

I was looking for a more "authentic" rice pilaf for dinner the other night. I actually had orzo on hand and found a great recipe! It was quick and simple...well quick for 20 mins!

Rice Pilaf-shared from Allrecipes
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup onion, diced fine
1-2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup orzo
1/2 cup rice
2 cups broth

Place butter in pan and melt. Add in orzo and cook until browned and then add onion cook until soft. Then add in garlic and cook for 1 min. Stir in rice and broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20-25 mins until rice is cooked through.

**This was really good! We tried to compare it to the first recipe I made, but apparently we couldn't remember what it tasted like! This definitely reminded me of a boxed version...but better!